The invention relates to apparatus for permitting an operator to manually adjust the wavelength of a monochromatic beam of a spectrophotometer system, and more particularly, to a manual wavelength adjustment for a microprocessor based spectrophotometer.
In a spectrophotometer system, a microcomputer may accurately control the optical system for continually changing the wavelength of the monochromatic beam and for directing the beam through a sample cell. In such a system, the microcomputer steps through a plurality of discrete wavelengths in a predetermined sequence and samples the output response of the beam passing through the cell in order to produce a recorded output of the spectral response of the substance contained in the sample cell.
However, there are times in which the operator wishes to study the position (response) of absorption peaks or emission lines of the analysis. Also, the operator may wish to study a particular wavelength response during system calibration.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable if the operator had the capability of stopping the spectrophotometer analysis at a particular wavelength and thereafter be able to vary the wavelength of radiant energy passing through the sample cell, at a rate controlled by the operator.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a manual control in a microprocessor based spectrophotometer for permitting manual varying of the wavelength of radiant energy passing through the sample cell.